Tony Katz

Low people bag on the Midwest. Usually, it’s coastal elitists who have never been to the middle of America, and have never bothered to look at what the Midwest has to offer. They pay no attention to the growth; that people are leaving the Northeast and California for places that offer them financial opportunities, friendly tax rates and a house they can afford.

One of those people is Twitter’s head of site integrity, Yoel Roth. Recently, Twitter decided to “fact check” President Trump’s tweets. Deciding that President Trump has engaged in unacceptable behavior by openly discussing the potential problems with state-wide mail-in voting – and the fraud that can potentially come with it – Twitter added to his tweet on the subject, “Get the facts about mail-in ballots:”

Click the link, and it takes you to posts from the Washington Post and CNN. These, according to Twitter, are the places to get “the facts.” CNN got near every fact in the Russia probe wrong, and then gave proven FBI liar Andrew McCabe a job. The Washington Post tried to destroy the life of high school student Nicholas Sandmann, claiming he was mocking a Native American man, Nathan Phillips, by just standing there while Phillips banged a drum in his face. CNN personalities said Sandmann had a “punchable face.”

There should be no doubt that Coronavirus is not the flu, and not like the flu. The incoming science tells us it is far more insidious in its contagious abilities. It has killed people. It also has exposed areas where the United States must immediately shore-up it’s abilities: the production of PPE’s and the production of drugs being at the top amongst a laundry list of items.

There should also be no doubt that members of the media have worked in an overtime capacity to spin coronavirus to invoke repeated attacks on President Trump. One can say that Trump deserves blame for the coronavirus response, but to do so, they must bring receipts; proof of the wrongdoing. If you cast blame, you need to be able to back it up.

Backing up the case against the media is, unfortunately, too easy. On cable news and in print, setting the Narrative – On Trump and Dr. Anthony Fauci, on Gov. Andrew Cuomo vs. Gov. Ron DeSantis, on Republican states vs. Democrat states, on lockdowns vs. liberty – has become job number one.

Narrative, as I define it, is the story pushed and perpetuated by American media, cultural elite and academia to ridicule, reduce and/or remove their cultural and political foes.

The latest example of Narrative was the Memorial Day Weekend edition of the New York Times. The headline read, “US Deaths Near 100,000. An Incalculable Loss.”

“Narrative journalism” is all the rage, in part, because it’s a smart business strategy. As the abstract of one 2019 study explained: “Views on the promises of narrative journalism stress its supposed positive influence on audience engagement and appreciation, an asset of increasing importance in light of the current crisis in journalism that is characterized by declining newspaper circulation.” And while the concept of narrative is an element in all storytelling, telling a tale in a compelling fashion is not synonymous with the prosecutorial portrayal of the facts in evidence. Indeed, these two objectives are sometimes in direct conflict.

But that business strategy comes not from an economic platform, but from an ideological one. In the case of coronavirus, the ideology states that Trump must be blamed at all costs. For example, Trump must be blamed for shutting down travel between China and the US, under the guise of xenophobia. Then, when circumstances changed, and it became clear that shutting down travel from China was beneficial, Trump must be blamed for not shutting down travel quick enough, and not just for Chinese nationals. Trump should have shut down the ability for American citizens to return to America!

In an interview with CNBC, infectious diseases expert Dr. Anthony Fauci, who has been a guiding voice for President Trump on coronavirus, warned of the dangers inherent in the United States staying closed for too long.

I don’t want people to think that any of us feel that staying locked down for a prolonged period of time is the way to go,

But now is the time, depending upon where you are and what your situation is, to begin to seriously look at reopening the economy, reopening the country to try to get back to some degree of normal.

He was sure to add that America should, “proceed with caution.”

Meanwhile, Virginia Governor Ralph Northam has ended stay-at-home orders for some parts of the state, but extended them in others.. Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett won’t allow restaurants to open for indoor seating, and won’t allow salons to open at all. Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer continues with draconian shut down measures apace. Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti told Angelinos that some type of lockdown will continue until there is a vaccine. A federal judge sided with Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf in continuing lockdown orders.

More than Dr. Fauci recognizing the danger of these lockdowns, the American people have recognized them, too. They’ve been pushing back in Indiana and Michigan, in California and multiple other states. They want the ability to decide whether they work or not. They want the ability to provide for their families and their employees. They want choices. And they now have Dr. Fauci to back them up.

“Flatten The Curve” was a lie. I didn’t want it to be a lie, but it clearly was. It was clearly untrue, clearly something that was said to people like you and me. You know, fools who actually believed that our job was to limit the number of cases of coronavirus happening at one time so that hospitals could stay ahead of the game.

It’s no longer about “Flatten The Curve.” Now, it’s about keeping lockdown orders for forever. While all states have lessened their lockdowns, some cities have continued them on in even greater draconian fashion, including statements that there will be no full-fledged re-opening until we have a vaccine or a treatment.

Well, we might be here for awhile. Sure, they’re working hard on vaccines. You got the push on Remdisivir from Gilead. You’ve got Moderna with their vaccine. Pfizer says maybe they will have something by the fall. Great. I only hope that they do. But what if they don’t?

But let’s return to the subject at hand: What’s with moving the goalposts?? They changed the entire scene, taking us from “Flatten The Curve” to flatten your wallet, because you can’t go back to work. They went from, “Be responsible!” to, “Accept our authority!”

It’s authoritarianism at work. But, of course, they don’t even see themselves as authoritarians. They never do. Rather, they just have some secret understanding of the world, they know better than you and they’re only trying to save you from yourself. We have a word for people like that: Elitists.

It’s not a good feeling to feel like you got played. It’s not a good feeling to feel like we’ve had the rules changed on us mid-game. Not to benefit lives and livelihoods, but to attain and maintain power.

I never thought I’d see America willingly go into lockdown, and then see so many Americans wanting to stay there, all the while berating those who want to open their businesses and care for their families. The anger from some, against those who don’t think healthy people should be quarantined, is palpable. To paraphrase my brother, the good Dr. Katz, nothing angers the prisoner more than seeing others walk free.

What we’re watching – the police state antics, the non-scientific slow-rolled re-open policies, the call for indefinite lockdowns in Durham, NC and ongoing restrictions in Los Angeles, CA and other cities – is awful. And I’m as frustrated as you are. But it’s really possible that you’re more frustrated than me. I’m still working. What if you’re not working?

Tony Katz talks to host and comic Dave Rubin of Rubin Report about his new book, ‘Don’t Burn This Book,’ and how narrative is dominating headlines instead of facts. They also discuss coronavirus and the need for a nice Italian coffee maker from Target.

Progressive activists think they should take a page out of the Tea Party book, and gain control of the Democratic Party. As Tony Katz explains to Pete Hegseth on Fox News, this is not good news for the Democratic presumptive nominee Joe Biden.

Tony Katz talks to Pete Hegseth on FOX and Friends about Joe Bidenand the Bernie Bros.

The desire to open the country is not about ignoring science, nor is it about “greed.” For many, it’s about survival. And for many others, it’s recognizing that Americans are always looking to move forward, and understand that government can not guarantee safety.

Tony Katz discusses the politicizing of coronavirus, the economy and why it may be more dangerous than the virus itself.

Shelley Luther owns a hair salon in Dallas, Texas. She opened her business back up, in violation of lockdown rules. A judge sentenced her to seven days in jail, unless she wanted to apologize for her “selfishness.” If she would just apologize, she would only be hit with a fine. Shelley Luther told the judge she will not apologize, and she will open her salon. She’s now in jail.

It’s obvious that there are Two Americas. It just moves from story to story: Attack Justice Brett Kavanaugh, or not. Believe Russian collusion, or not. Stay shutdown, or not. Americans don’t dig deep on whether the attacks on Justice Kavanaugh were warranted; whether they were based on facts, whether Dr. Christine Blasey Ford could remember any salient details of the alleged assault (she didn’t.) Rather, it’s a cacophony of catchphrases and hashtags, of #BelieveAllWomen and #MeToo and diatribes of patriarchy and privilege.

President Trump was guilty of colluding with the Russians to win the 2016 election because social media said so, and cable news outlets parroted their tweets as, “people say.” Members of Congress said Trump was guilty, with Rep. Adam Schiff not only leading the charge, but claiming proof that he never revealed.

Some Americans agreed with Schiff, wrongly, saying the proof was clear. Other Americans said, rightly, there was no proof. And when Robert Mueller’s report concluded that no collusion took place, the Two Americas didn’t come together; some being proven right and some admitting they were wrong, then everyone going out for ice cream and moving on with their lives. The Two Americas ran further apart, with many from the wrong team doubling down on their insistence that Trump is guilty, moving the goal posts completely to impeachment over a daft phone call between Trump and the president of Ukraine.

Coronavirus has done the same. It’s not a conversation of science nor of economics, of damage done by coronavirus and damage done by the nation staying closed. It’s become a conversation of Liberty vs. “You Want To Kill My Grandpa! You’re All About Money! You’re a Greedy Bastard! You Should Get Coronavirus and Die!!”

In California, Gov. Gavin Newsom ordered the beaches closed in Orange County, while allowing sex offenders out of jail. In New York, Gov. Andrew Cuomo forced nursing homes to comply with unsound directives, resulting in potentially avoidable deaths. In Michigan and Ohio, stay-at-home directives have been extended to the end of May by both Democratic and Republican governors. In Oregon, it extends to July. In Indiana, it’s a phased-in approach that pretends to adhere to science and liberty.

This is where America is in the age of Coronavirus: Ignoring science, but pretending to follow it. Ignoring Liberty, but pretending to believe in it.

Gov. Newsom is a foul half-wit who deserves nothing less than forced removal from office. The sex offenders he let out of jail? Horrific people whose only defenders would be Rep. Ocasio-Cortez and La Raza. Their joint histories include assault with a deadly weapon, resisting a police officer, lewd conduct in a public place, child molestation, parole violations, inflicting injury on an elder adult and a host of other charges.

No one favors this move. District Attorney Todd Spitzer:

“These kinds of high-risk sex offenders are the most dangerous kind of criminal and the most likely to re-offend,” District Attorney Todd Spitzer said in a statement. “They are doing everything they can to avoid detection by the parole officers assigned to monitor them so they can potentially commit additional sex offenses. These are not the kind of people who should be getting a break.“

As Gov. Newsom does this, he has stopped people from going to the beach. Not in all of California, just Orange County. Why? Because some people went to the beach when it was open. So, in an act of punishment masquerading as science, Gov. Newsom closed their beaches.

Yes, of course, it’s easy to see that Newsom frees criminals and criminalizes free people. But that’s to miss the larger point: Science is not Newsom’s driving factor. As reported by the Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles County has over 25,000 cases and over 1,200 deaths. Orange County? 2,700 cases and 52 deaths. Newsom has no interest in science; his interest is revenge, funneled through ideological power, concentrated in an imbecilic runt.

America’s infectious disease expert, Dr. Anthony Fauci, appeared on CNN and told Jake Tapper that “obviously” fewer people would have coronavirus if we had shut down the country earlier. He punctuated it by saying there was “push back” to the idea:

Obviously, if we had right from the beginning shut everything down it may have been a little bit different. But there was a lot of pushback about shutting things down back then.

A full listen to his answers show Dr. Fauci wasn’t aggressively laying blame anywhere, and he repeatedly warned against second guessing. He stated clearly, for example, that comparisons to South Korea were illogical. He admitted that he looks at things from a, “pure health standpoint,” meaning that he doesn’t concern himself with your job or your neighbor’s small business.

But that won’t matter. Cable news will run his word choice for forever: Trump didn’t listen to scientists. Trump didn’t listen to doctors. Trump didn’t want to hurt his precious economy.